


A Heart in his pale chest

by Debby_Gatta_TheBeast



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Light Angst, Sadness, the King is going to be better than in the canon story, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-02-23 21:09:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18710026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Debby_Gatta_TheBeast/pseuds/Debby_Gatta_TheBeast
Summary: A "What If" scenario in which the Pale King regrets what he did with the Pure Vessel, feeling guilty for his terrible plan, and changes his mind.And to pay for his errors, he finds another, drastic solution...





	1. Memories

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story written in English, that is not my first language, and due to this it could have some grammatical errors.  
> Some friends helped me with the correction, and I thank them again for their support!
> 
> Prepare yourself: in this interpretation, the Pale King is not just a cold piece of ice. He has feelings and consciousness, and due for this... well, the story evolves:3

 

The White Palace was silent that night. Not a whisper could be heard. The servants were already sleeping, and the palace itself was immersed in a quiet stillness.

Everyone was sleeping. Everyone, except him.

The Pale King was looking at the ceiling, without seeing it. His mind was full of thoughts, thoughts too loud and injuring, that were preventing him to sleep. Sweet memories were turning in terrible images, and the more he remembered, the more he felt guilty.

_How could he do something like that…?_

The Queen turned softly into the bed. He looked at her, he knew she wasn’t sleeping, too. How could she?

His beloved Root started acting strange some months earlier. She never told him what worried her, or why she felt so sad all the time, but he suspected it was due to what they were going to do with the Pure Vessel.

She suffered, silently, when they had to create all the Vessels. And now she was suffering again. Silently.

She didn’t want him to worry. But how could he not? And how could he feel better, too?

 

He did what he had to do. The Pure Vessel was sealed, and inside it, the Infection was captured and caged away.

But…

He knew the Vessel was just a “moving thing”. He knew when he created all of them. Not a child, not a bug. Just a thing, an “it”.

But…

It was created using his and his wife higher blood, fused with the abyssal essence of Void. So, it was still an offspring of him and the Queen. But… was it a real child? Was that void, genderless, mindless, voiceless creation… his child?

No, no. It was just a Vessel. Created for a specific purpose. Created to save his Kingdom, his beloved Hallownest. Created to seal away the terrible Infection.

 

But… he couldn’t stop thinking about the past.

He remembered well the first time he saw it. He felt nothing looking in its black, empty eyes. He had discarded too many Vessels before to think something different to “Finally, my Pure Vessel is here”. And the little Vessel itself didn’t do anything except follow him when the King told it to. A moving thing.

 

After a few days spent at the palace, the Pure Vessel was ready to be introduced to the King’s loyal Five Knights.

«Look, my Great Knights, this is the Pure Vessel» he said.

«You will raise it as a fierce, unstoppable, powerful knight. Do not try to interact with it in any other way. It has no mind, it cannot think, or reply. It was created to fight, and only to fight.»

The knights were confused, but accepted his orders.

Dryya programmed for it a special treatment and an intense training.

Day by day, the Vessel had grown in strength. The King followed its progress - he had to be sure his Hollow Knight would become strong enough to fight, protect itself, face directly with the malefic heart of the Infection to contain it - and for the first months, nothing strange happened. His Queen avoided seeing the Vessel when she could, at the beginning. He knew she was very sensitive, and he supposed that looking at a _thing_ that resembled a kid without being a real child would be painful for her, especially if this _thing_ was so tiny, harmless at the beginning, and, first of all, one of her offsprings. Void, unable to feel anything except its task, but… still an offspring.

 

But when exactly _he_ started to feel something for it?

It was impossible to say certainly. Something happened in the next months after he brought it to the palace. The Vessel was pure, of course, and acted as a Vessel was supposed to act, but maybe it started to stay… closer to him? Or maybe _he_ started to stay closer to it without conscious intention. Slowly, the hollow creature started to seem… different, and caused a sort of feelings in him.

When he met it in the mornings, he felt relaxed looking at its empty eyes. When the Vessel was training and he was watching, he started to feel proud of it. The little Knight was really good at fighting, and looking at it challenging some Kingsmould or the Great Knights themselves with such a grace in the way it held the nail… looking at it rising in its power, becoming stronger step by step… it was a sort of pleasure.

 

And not only during the training. The Hollow Knight was unable to think, of course, but not to understand. Due to this, he soon started to explain to it what for it was raising to do, and for what purpose it was training so hard. He spent some time alone with the Vessel since the first day, but the more the days passed, the more he felt a sort of peaceful feeling in its company. Maybe due to the immobile void it had inside, maybe because he started to _attach_ to it. In his mind, the little Pure Vessel started to take the shape of a… sort of _child._ Void, mindless! With no voice, no will, no hopes! And so, _why_ did he felt like that? Why did he felt attached to a “thing”?

The Queen, too, started to stay closer to the little one, in the past years. The Pure Vessel was allowed to eat at the Five Knights' table, and sometimes - but just _sometimes_ \- at the royal one, with him and his wife. And when that happened, it was beautiful. The young Vessel was well-mannered, thanks to the King’s teaching, but sometimes acted like a normal young boy - taking distractedly some food with its hands _and then_ realizing it was impolite and dropping it, or adjusting its chair to fit more comfortable, or asking silently for the seasoning to put on its salad and on its Boofly steak.

And those actions, the silliest and insignificant ones, _those_ were the actions that more warmed the Wyrm's heart. The Vessel was pure, but had a taste: it preferred salty over sweet; it was pure, but it also resembled a normal child in some ways.

Sometimes the King felt a sort of happiness staying with it and looking at it, especially when the little one looked back. He also started to think that _maybe_ having an heir - only one - could not be _so bad._ For all his life he didn’t want children, while maybe the Root would love to have some. But in that past years, the King himself started to change his mind.

But…

Wasn’t the Vessel already a _sort of child_?

He never admitted that. He didn’t want to think about that. No, the Vessel was just a Vessel. A sweet one, perfect, also cute, well-mannered and everything. But just a Vessel. Right? _Right_?

 

The Pure Vessel reached its full physically growth after years, and it finished its training. During the time, it participated with the Five Great Knights in some missions, always excelling for its skills. And the King was always so proud of it…

So balanced, inflexible, loyal, perfect in every aspect. His Hollow Knight was ready… but _he_ was not.

He didn’t know he was not, until the day came.

The Infection was spreading all over the Kingdom, getting stronger day by day, and it had to be stopped. The Hollow Knight was called to contain it, and some guards escorted the Vessel around the Kingdom for some weeks, to find the Infection sources and seal them within its body, until they reached its very heart.

 

The King was waiting in front of the Black Egg Temple with his loyal Hegemol and Ogrim, the day they told him that the Hollow Knight completed its journey. Meanwhile, some mages were making the last few precautions on the three seals that would have enforced the temple entrance - the King had already made a deal with Monomon the Teacher, Lurien the Watcher and the Deepnest Queen Herrah, known as “The Beast”: three “Dreamers”, that soon would have fallen in a sort of Limbo, neither awake, neither asleep, neither alive or dead, to guarantee additional protection for the Temple and the Hollow Knight inside.

But when the guards with his Hollow Knight - his Pure Vessel, his _offspring_ \- came… he was not ready for what he saw.

The Hollow Knight contained the Infection perfectly, because no sign of the orange, pulsing, mephitic bubbles of the disease could be seen. But it was… trembling. Imperceptibly, but constantly. Suffering. It was suffering, silently of course. It came to him, bowing its head to its King, trembling a little more. It was ready to be sealed.

The King hesitated for a moment, for the first time in his life.

Then, without saying a word, he entered the Black Egg Temple, followed only by the Hollow Knight.

 

Everything inside the Temple was still and silent. Their steps were muffled, too. The walls were filled with Void, to offer more isolation, and due to this the _air_ _grew stiller and a sense of emptiness pervaded everything._

There was a bench, left from the original structure - a normal temple raised to the King, before the Infection came - and he stopped there for a second.

«My loyal Knight - he said, masking his voice with the usual apathetic tone - I have one last _gift_ for you, before you go. Here, read this tablet.»

He had ordered to raise a holy tablet near the bench, and the Hollow Knight, still trembling a bit, went closer and read.

The tabled said: “ _Vessel, through bound, you shall know the state of the world_ ”. Suddenly, a white light covered for an instant the Pure Vessel, and then it shook its head, a bit confused.

«My loyal Vessel, now you will be able to know everything about our Hallownest when you will be sealed.»

“It’s the least I can do” he thought, without saying it.

«Now, follow me.»

The entrance of the Sancta Sanctorum was darker than the rest of the Temple. And more silent, and cooler. The King stopped in front of the door. He couldn’t enter there.

The Hollow Knight looked at him. He looked at it. They stared at each other for a long minute. Then, the Hollow Knight entered.

He saw the chains seal his Vessel. He saw everything, without entering the door. He saw… his child… being sealed…

 

His child…

His child…

He turned in his bed. No position was comfortable enough. Nothing was comfortable enough to let him sleep, in that moment. For a second he thought he would never be able to sleep again.

Not after what he just did. The more time passed, the more his stomach writhed in pain. (And of course it wasn’t for something he ate! No, he didn’t even have dinner that evening.)

He tried to ignore it.

Soon, a new day would dawn, and he would never sleep that night. His beloved Root… she hadn't slept, too, but they hadn't talked or looked at each other at all. They had felt, silently, too guilty to talk about what happened the day before. To talk about the Pure Vessel.

His child… what did he do to it?

He… had sacrificed his own child. This… this is what he did.

“No costs too great” he told himself. But no, he wasn’t sure anymore. Not after he had spent all those years with the chosen Vessel, not after he had known it so deeply.

Without realizing, the King was now sitting on the corner of his royal bed. He felt his carapax trembling, with his head in his hands.

He had never felt so bad in his whole life. Even when the Infection came… it was better than that moment.

He had sacrificed his child… his child… no, that was not accurate. He had sacrificed _a lot of children_. Years ago, so many Vessels he discarded…! So many he killed…! But at the time he saw them as barely moving things, so… so he didn’t realize…!

But now! After all the time he spent with the Pure Vessel…! With the only child that survived, with the purest among his cursed progeny, with the only one he and his wife had taken and raise at the Palace...

“That… that was the only way to save the Kingdom. The only one! You had to do something, and you did, you saved Hallownest…!”

Was it true? The only one?

And what if there was another way...?

He… he started suspecting another way to exists… and more he thought about it, more he convinced himself.

 


	2. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The King leaves the White Palaces with a strange idea in mind, and some days after a letter comes for the White Queen...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, I am not used to ancient and courtly English, and due to this the King and the Queen speak just a modern English ^^' b  
> But I can add that I see them close enough to speak in a little more colloquial way when they talk to each other, so I hope this will still work!

«My dear Root - he said that morning - there is one thing left I have to do. It… it must be done, as soon as possible.»

«What is it?» she asked, softly, but her Wyrm only said it was nothing to worry about.

«I will leave the Palace soon. It will require me some days, so I am relying on your Regent.»

«Of course my dear» she replied, staring at his eyes.

“But, please, tell me,  _ what is it _ ?” she would have loved to ask, but she didn’t feel strong enough to start an argument with her husband. The past days were so painful, so heavy, so tiring… they left the Queen with no mental energy. So she didn’t insist, and let him go without any additional explanation.

 

One day passed. Two days. Three days. No news came to the Palace, and she started to wonder why was her Wyrm taking so much time. Was he preparing the last few things about the Dreamers? Was he having meetings with the most important figures related to them, to make sure the Dreamers would be kept safe? Or was he doing something related to the Pure Vessel itself…?

She didn’t know, and she preferred not to think about it. The whole plan… since the creation of the Vessels, she felt very bad every day. Unable to  _ be _ and  _ act _ detached as her husband, she spent months trying to hide the guilt she felt, trying to act pretending everything was fine, when it wasn’t at all. 

And in the last years, when finally she was starting to forget most of the pain, getting closer to her Pure Vessel - and trying to convince herself that the other ones, the discarded ones, were just too weak to survive and she had just to accept it… 

Everything was ruined by the Hollow Knight’s purpose itself.

Now the Palace looked empty, like her heart. She couldn’t know if it was better not seeing her beloved King or not, in these days. She never blamed him for the drastic decision he made. It was the only thing they could do to save the Kingdom, and it had the absolute priority.

But she never agreed totally with it, mostly because of her emotions. And now, spending some days alone was probably the best thing for her and her psyche.

 

And then, the message came. She was finishing to organize some bureaucratic papers related to the City of Tears and the Lurien’ successors, when Dryya entered the room, bowing quickly at her.

«My… my Queen… - her face was blank, and she seemed shocked - the Kingsmoulds are back, but without the King. Instead… they have some letters. Every Great Knight received one. And… and there is one for you too, my Queen.»

The Root took the letter, confused, and started reading. It was from her Wyrm:

 

“ _ My beloved, _

_ I must be sincere with you: what I am going to write will break your heart _ .”

 

At that moment, the Root felt her bark trembling for a second. But she had to continue the reading:

 

“ _ I was wrong. The foresight I had and the fear for the loss of our precious Hallownest made me think that only one way was possible, and I followed it without considering anything else.  _

_ My blindness led me to impose terrible sacrifices to others, first of all to you, my dear, and to our offsprings. And I have recognized my foolishness just now - I cannot still believe how foolish I have been for all these years, and I have to sincerely apologize with you. _

_ The time I spent with our Pure Vessel luckily opened my eyes, but not fast enough to prevent my terrible plan to be completed.  And now I have to repair the damage I made.” _

 

The Queen stopped for a second. Dryya was still in the room, and the Root felt the urge to send her out.

«My loyal Dryya - she heard her voice trembling and gloomy - could… could you leave me alone, please?»

«But of course, my Queen.» 

Dryya left her study quickly, and the Root took a silent moment to prepare to continue her reading.

 

“ _ Maybe there is another way. Maybe, the Pure Vessel can be freed. I have to try. _

_ Writing these words is painful to me, but necessary. We will never meet again, my beloved. I am going to take its place - and you are going to take mine.” _

 

“What does it mean?” she suddenly felt scared. What did “take its place” mean? 

 

“ _ The shame of my faults is too heavy to bear, and I must pay for them. I will give you back our child in exchange, my Root, I promise.” _

 

“Child” her heart jumped in her pale chest. Her King had called the Pure Vessel “child”, for the first time.

 

“ _ And I have to apologize more, my dear, for everything I have done for all this time.  _

_ I never consulted you for this mad plan. I just imposed, as usual, my will. I forced you, in a way, to take part in it without even listening to your opinion.  _

_ I always acted like that, and not a million excuses could justify myself. _

_ This time, too. I could not tell you my intentions before, because I knew you would have tried to stop me.  _

_ But this will be the last time I treat you like that, I can assure.” _

 

The Queen had to stop, for a second. She could not understand. She could not accept it. Why, why after everything she had to bear,  _ that _ ? Why her Wyrm… what was he going to do? What did he mean?

The last part of the letter said:

 

“ _ If you are reading, I will be already gone. Soon, our offspring will return to the Palace, and I, hopefully, will be redeemed for all my actions. _

_ Please, take care of our beloved Hallownest and our innocent child. _

 

_ This is my last goodbye.  _

_ I love you, my dear. _

_ Your Wyrm” _

 

The Queen stared at the letter, paler in her face than usual. Her blue eyes were full of tears, and her hands were trembling. 

She was unable to whisper a word.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only thing I wanted to add is that in my headcanon/personal idea of Hollow Knight, I like to think the Pale King ( despite from the game we can't know certainly) felt a sort of love for his Root. Maybe not as strong as the Queen seems to feel for him, but I like to think they were quite close to each other.


	3. Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The King made a new plan to redeem himself and save his immolated child, and now he has just to discover if it will work...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: In this chapter only, there is a section with a description of physical suffering. I tried my best to balance enough pain description without doing something that could hurt the sensibility of the readers too much. I would suggest you to read it, because I find it pretty important for the chapter, but if you prefer to skip it, don't worry!  
> I marked the "physical angst" part with a "WARNING", so you can, if you want, to skip it!

_Maybe… the Pure Vessel could be freed. Maybe there was another way._

He had to act quickly, before the Dreamers started to _dream_ , before the forever closing of the Black Temple.

He left the palace early, that morning. Followed by an escort of Kingsmoulds, he went down to the Basin restricted zones. He opened the secret access, after he unsealed the binding with his King’s Brand - _the same access he promised himself to never open again, a long time ago_.

Some workers were called to turn on the lighthouse in which one of his Void laboratories were collocated.

He ordered his guards to wait before the door. Entering that lab felt strange and painful; that was the place where he started experimenting with the Void, and also where he tried to fuse the Void with living creatures.

First of all, he sat to a desk and started writing on scrolls.

Five letters, each for everyone of his loyal Great Knights.

One for his beloved Root, that took hours to write, as hard for him it was to write such things.

And the last one… it was painful to write as well. Maybe even more.

When the King finished, he entrusted the letters to his guards, ordering the Kingsmoulds to keep them until new orders.

Then, he started with the preparations.

He had only one chance, and due to this everything had to be perfect, or he would have risked to die, or even worse.

So the King spent a whole day calculating, analyzing himself, preparing everything and making sure his plan would work perfectly.

If he was right… if his idea would work…

 

The King and his wife created the Vessels using their powerful blood, the blood of Gods, of Higher Beings. But a new Higher Being was not as easy to obtain as a normal offspring was.

No, their Vessels were powerful, but not as powerful as he and his Root.

Also if they had a normal baby - an heir, a son or a daughter, not Void, but pale - probably they would not be a powerful Higher Being as the parents. The Higher Beings were born from death: from an ancient dragon, a powerful beast, like him, or from a millennial giant life tree, like his wife. The progeny of an Higher Being would be very powerful, and superior to any normal bug, but still not as _Divine_ as the King or the Queen were.

So…

He was stronger than a Vessel. Stronger than the purest of them.

His body… if his body would turn _hollow_ , it could be able to contain the Infection. Better than his offspring itself, that was raised for that purpose.

The only problem left was… it was really possible to turn a living being _hollow_ and _void_ ? To turn an Higher Being into an _empty_ , _mindless_ creature?

His idea… was it impossible?

Or… would it work?

 

The King ordered to turn off the beacon, after every assessment was done.

He walked to the coast of the huge black void lake. Without the light from the construction behind, the Void started rising and boiling. The King got closer, and some black, hissing tendrils came out from the surface.

«If everything goes as We had predicted - he said to his guards, behind him, using his _royal We_ as he always did in public - We will not be able to talk anymore, after this. So, this is Our last speech: when We will come back, some of you will return to the White Palace, and deliver the letters. Some, instead, will escort Us to the Black Egg Temple. Then, leave Us there, and wait until… - he stopped for a moment, a very short moment - until the Hollow Knight comes. At that point, escort it to the Palace. To the Queen.»

The Kingsmould were created just to obey, and so they didn’t ask anything about that unusual order. They just bowed at their King, saying “It will be done, your Royal Highness”.

Then, the King rised a light, magic shield around himself. A sort of magic seal, but weak enough to let the Void surround his body, slowly and constantly.

The King moved a step inside the dark, black water.

 

 **\---** **WARNING ---**

**ANGST, DESCRIPTIONS OF SUFFERING**

_This part is marked by “---”. If you prefer to avoid it, just scroll down to the end of this section ._

 

He entered the black lake up to the chest, protecting himself from the shaking tendrils with the white, barely shining shield.

The first sensation was “ _cold”._ Cold and tingly.

Then, the Void started to feel _corrosive._ His white carapax, lapped everywhere by the sticky water, started to sizzle.

He walked more, and now the gelid Void completely surrounded him over his shoulders.

The cold, hissing liquid was now touching his flesh, through the small fissures of his bug shell, through the joints of the carpax.

It… hurt. But the King stayed still. He had to stay concentrated and keep the white seal on as long as possible.

Then, he immersed his face under the water, trembling more and more while the Void entered in his body through the empty fissures of his eyes. He felt his mouth full of tasteless, gelid, liquid Void, and then…

He completely submerged himself, and the real pain started.

 

Everything went completely black. Many, strong tendrils grabbed his body, blocking it underwater. He couldn’t do anything, neither move or cry for help. But was it real, or was it just a sort of dream?

He was completely surrounded by the Void lake, but he didn’t feel the need to breathe; he just felt his carapax being stabbed by thousands of invisible needles. Or was he just dreaming it?

The Void entered his chest, entered his _soul_ . His body started to burn, but it felt like a _freezing fire_. The King felt the corrosive water digging inside his flesh, and suddenly he started to gasp, trying to reach the surface; but he was stuck. He was still unable to see anything, and a sort of silent terror started spreading in the deep of his insides.

 _Was he… dying_ ? Did he… calculate wrong? Was his _idea_ wrong? What he was doing in that moment, was it completely useless!?

Every energy slipped over his body, he felt completely drained and he started to lose consciousness.

_No, he had to resist… he had… for his...._

_He tried to cry for help, but no voice came out his throat. Neither a whisper._

The Void was consuming him. From the inside.

_Thoughts became hard to formulate.  Like in a icy fever, his mind was inhibited, and every attempt to think was painful._

He- he…

_He had to do it for his child. He had to pay for everything. He… he..._

...he?

It.

\---

 

The figure came out of the lake.

The Pale King… was no more.

Just a pale, void Vessel.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANGST, as you could see until now, is something very strong in this story, but I can promise you that this chapter will be the only one with such a detailed description of pain (especially, about strong physical pain)!


	4. Broken Chains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hollow Knight is waiting inside the Black Egg Temple for the very last seals, the Dreamers seals, to rise... but something happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only thing I can say here is: I warn you about the sadness of this chapter, too!

Stillness. Quiet stillness.

The soft, hot, constant beating of the Heart was the only sensation that could be felt. 

The Heart of the Infection.

But it was sealed. Yes, it was. 

Inside their body.

The Pure Vessel was barely breathing. The Infection needed to be kept under control. No movement was allowed. 

It was like there was no time at all inside the Temple. Everything was motionless. Everything was silent. And cold.

But… they could see. Inside their head, the magnificent Hallownest was already recovering.

Thanks to their sacrifice.

Yes. What they did saved the Kingdom. And now it would reflourish. Life would spread, instead of death. People would be happy.

Thanks… thanks to their sacrifice.

 

If they concentrated, like in a trembling dream, the Pure Vessel could see the whole Kingdom. Every village, big or small. Every town or city. 

They could see the City of Tears. They could see the bugs walking and living and talking, even though the sight was not very clear. The bugs were like little points inside their head. Little, moving points.

They could still see the White Palace. Not as clearly as when they inhabited there, of course…

The Hollow Knight could feel the presence of the Queen - the sweet and lovely Root, but… where was he?

Where… did he go? 

The presence had disappeared from the magic, foggy map in their head. 

Where…? Did the King leave the Kingdom for some reason? Or were there parts of the Kingdom they couldn’t see?

The Hollow Knight trembled. No, they had to stay calm. They had to stay still. To preserve their task.

The Hollow Knight imposed themselves not to  _ think  _ about it. No, it would  _ ruin _ their duty. 

Their  _ father _ was of course fine. 

No need to worry.

 

It was impossible to say how much time passed. Maybe an hour. Maybe a year. The moving points were not clear enough to let them calculate the time that was passing outside the Temple. 

But at a certain point, something happened.

Some black, little shadows were getting closer.

The seals were not raised yet. Were that points enemies? If it was so, they would be ready to fight to protect the sealed Infection, to prevent it to break out and spread all over again.

But… they were not, luckily. They seemed Kingsmoulds to them. Kingsmoulds followed by an unknown, darker shadow.

The points entered in the Black Egg Temple and then the Hollow Knight could hear their steps, heavy and metallic.

«Hollow Knight - a voice called, and they turned softly their head to see the source - the Pale King himself ordered to unseal your chains.»

The Pure Vessel didn’t understand. 

They could trust the Royal guards, but why did their  _ father _ order such a thing? They had to stay sealed  _ forever _ . 

Did… their purpose change?

Or were that Kingsmoulds… traitors? Or fakers?

But then… the pale figure of their father entered the room.

Their void heart jumped in their sealed chest.

The Hollow Knight didn’t think they could see their father again in their life. But… but why was he there?

The Pale King looked at them with an empty, cold gaze. Then he raised his arm, and the two Kingsmoulds started to break the chains. 

The King himself grabbed his thin, sharp pure nail, and started to hit some of the chains with an unusual violence.

The Hollow Knight fell to the ground, and quickly the guards came to help them to remove the last few chains.

The Heart of Infection pulsed harder in their chest, and the Vessel started to feel the burning, silent pain increasing. Their body started to tremble, again, as it did before being sealed. The Hollow Knight tried their best to stay still, to do not agitate the Infection, and raised softly their head to look at their father's pale face.

They felt a warming happiness in his presence, but at the same time they felt an increasing fear, too. What was going on?

They looked at him, confused, and the King looked back. His eyes were different.  _ He _ was different. The Hollow Knight was unable to understand why, as he looked exactly as usual, but something… something had changed in him.

The Vessel slowly stood up, and then the Wyrm, without saying a word, turned and indicated with his arm to follow him out of the Sancta Sanctorum. The Kingsmoulds themselves went out, and the Hollow Knight had to follow them. 

But what was happening? And why their father was so silent, and so strange?

They would have loved to ask, but… of course, they could not.

When they all were finally out of the darkest room in the Temple, the King looked for the third time at the Vessel. 

They stared at each other for a long, intense moment.

Then the Pale King grabbed their arms, hardly. And everything got completely orange. Their head started to swirl, violently, and burning tongues of fire ran through their chest for some long moments 

“ _ Father… _ ?!”

The beating fire inside their body came out, strongly enough to hurt all their body, drying their energies in just a few seconds. 

Then, everything turned off, and they lost consciousness.

 

The hot, burning pain of the Infection… it was slowly disappearing. Their head… a pulsing, dull pain filled it, like if it was hit hardly.

What… what was happening?

_ The bindings… the invisible chains that surrounded their mind… _ broke.

They felt… free.

 

_ A terrible, screeching metal sound. _

They were laying on the gelid floor when started to wake up.

_Another_ _one_. 

The Pure Vessel slowly opened their eyes. 

_Another_ _one_.

The chains…! The Hollow Knight raised their gaze, and looked through the door that entered the Sancta Sanctorum.

Their father… their father was being sealed in that very moment…!

They sprang up, willing to stop him, but the Kingsmoulds stopped them first.

«We must get out of here. The Dreamers will start their slumber in minutes!» one of them said with the guard’s usual metallic tone.

But they stayed still.

«...f...father…!» for the first time in their life, they talked. A soft, neutral, pasty voice came out their burned throat.

«...father - they said a little louder, unable to enter the very deepest room - w-why…!? I... I was raised… r-raised for this! A-all my life… why…!?»

The King, that had turned his head to them, didn’t reply. He just looked back. With his new empty, darker eyes.

The Hollow Knight felt some tears filling the corners of their eyes. 

«I… I w-was your Pure Vessel…!» they said, and every word was hard and painful to pronounce, due to the fact they were the very firsts in their whole life.

«W...was not I… pure enough…? W...was I… was I wrong…?»

The more they talked, without receiving any reply, the more they felt… strange. And different. And… every binding they imposed to themselves since the very beginning was disappearing… to  _ not think  _ \- and they were thinking right now - to  _ not hope _ \- and they felt the urge to save his father, not only to fulfill their task but also to  _ save him _ from that chains! They felt themselves  _ willing _ to free him! - to  _ not talk -  _ and they were talking!

Every binding… they were losing importance, at that moment.

«Father!» they cried, again. But the King… the King shook slowly his head.

The King… did he want them to leave…? Did he want to stay sealed in their place? 

The Temple trembled dangerously.

«We must hurry» yelled one of the two guards, trying to drag them out.

But they couldn’t stop to look at the Sancta Sanctorum - at their chained father - even while running away.

Why their father wanted to sacrifice himself instead of them!? He was the King of Hallownest, the Kingdom needed him! And… and…

 

They went out just in time. A few seconds later the entrance of the deepest room of the Temple was barred by three magic seals, resembling the masks of the three Dreamers.

The Black Egg Temple was sealed forever.

The Hollow Knight fell on their knees. Looking at the black floor, they weren’t able to do anything. It was like they had lost every spark of energy, like their Higher strength was completely gone. Still holding their nail, the Pure Vessel started to cry silently, incapable to understand the reasons behind the King's last decision.

“Why…? Did I fail you, father, in some way?”

Some quiet minutes passed. The Hollow Knight found the strength to get up, but their legs were still trembling for the emotion.

«Your Highness - one of the Kingsmoulds came closer to them - the Pale King himself ordered to deliver this letter to you.»

They grabbed it, trembling, and then opened it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based the Hollow Knight in this story from the idea I have in mind for my headcanon: I think they were really attached to their father, and also very convinced about the task of sealing the Infection away, because they were raised for that.   
> So I tried to imagine how lost the Hollow Knight could felt in this What If when the father that they loved and were so loyal for decided to take their place. 
> 
> And about the Pure Vessel being able to talk, is still something I imagine could happen, based on the cut dialogues from analyzing the Hollow Knight or the Pure Vessel that are in the game files. The Hollow Knight thinks about their father, and this lets us know that they could actually think something, and the Pure Vessel is trying to force themselves to be PURE (to not think, hope and speak), probably, still in my opinion, to be perfect and don't delude their father.  
> And so I imagined how it could be if, at a certain point, the Hollow Knight stopped forcing themselves from these impositions and actually... broking their own rules.


	5. The Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five years are passed since the King's sacrifice, and Hallownest seems back to normal.  
> But not for the Hollow Knight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with the last chapter!   
> I warn you that the chapter is long and more "intricate" than the previous ones, due to the fact that is the very epilogue of the story. So I divided it into some paragraphs, hoping it will help the reading.
> 
> And now, good reading!

Almost five years had passed.

Hallownest was completely reflourished, and no sign of the poisonous Infection was seen in these months. After years full of pain, the bugs of the Kingdom were finally freed and happy. Festivals, banquets, Operas took place in the various parts of the holy realm every day, and some intellectuals started to call those new years “the New Golden Age”.

The economy and the markets with far away Kingdoms had recovered, and explorers, foreigners and tourists had started to visit Hallownest, now that the fear for the Infection was gone.

 

Soon, the holy Anniversary would be celebrated in every village, town and city of Hallownest. The Anniversary of his sacrifice. 

“The King saved his people sacrificing himself!” explained the parents to their young children.

“What a hero!” yelled the younger ones.

“He must have really cared about the Kingdom! He really loved his people!” commented the older children.

It was a real surprise when it happened. The Infection completely disappeared in less than a month - after it had destroyed thousands of lives in the past years - and only a few weeks later the news about the King’s sacrifice came out.

Nobody was prepared for that. Nobody suspected anything. But after the whole national day of mourning, the King’s fame started to increase more and more in the imagination of the bugs.

The King… was a real hero! They built statues, fountains, monuments in his memory. A lot of aristocrats started to feel prouder of their King’s Idols, the intellectuals started to write hymns to him, while the more modest of bugs started to find their peace going to the Temples constructed in the King’s memory, or saying some prayers to the King’s statues.

 

None of them knew the truth behind the Pale King sacrifice. None of them knew the original plan, or that the Hollow Knight was sealed first instead of him. None of them knew about the Vessels, about the Abyss, and the Void, and about the King himself that turned hollow. 

But it was better this way. No need to make them worry. No need to explain too much. This is what the Queen, her counselors, and the Hollow Knight themselves thought and decided.

 




 

Five years. Five long years, full of duties, emotions, changes.

But they could not believe that five years had already passed. 

They were so intense that the Pure Vessel almost didn’t have the time to get used to all those changes quickly.

The first day they returned to the palace was a mix of sadness, confusion and various other feelings. During the travel the Hollow Knight continued to read his father’s last letter again and again, trying to find comfort with it, and never finding it.

When they moved the first step inside the palace, the Queen almost ran to them, asking them if they were all right, also hugging them once, all without stopping to weep silently for the whole time. That hug made the Vessel feel strange and  _ reassured _ at the same time.

Something was radically different in her, or at least her feelings for them had changed, in some way, during the time they were sealed.

In the days that followed, she started to stay closer to them, maybe to comfort them, and maybe to feel comforted, too. The relationship between the two started to deepen. The Hollow Knight had always felt loyal to her, and attached in some ways, but they had never seen her as a  _ mother  _ before. Maybe due to the fact she always seemed sad in their presence, or because she had never followed their training and their growth as the King did… but in those months things started to change a lot for both of them.

 

The Vessel was asked if they wanted to be called with a proper name, if they wanted to choose one. They had never had a real name.

«Hollow» they replied. Just “Hollow”. Any other name would feel strange for them, as they started to feel different and knowing themselves better just in that first year. And “Pure”, that sounded more regal, wasn’t for them. They didn’t think of themselves as the “Pure Vessel” anymore.

 

The Queen started to rule actively the Kingdom, and took the Vessel inside her counselors. They were not able to rule anything - as they had never been prepared for that - but were glad to help when they could.

 

Not to be forgotten, the Hollow Knight was still one of the most powerful warriors in the whole Kingdom, and due to that, they took a stable position in the five Royal Great Knights - that became “the six Royal Great Knights”.

For the population, the Hollow Knight at first remained the anonymous, intriguing, silent knight they were before, just a bit more known.

Just after some time a fake truth was presented, more as a gossip than solid news. 

The Hollow Knight was  _ probably  _ the Prince of Hallownest, the only child left by the King to his Kingdom, and  _ probably _ he was hidden before to protect them - who knows what kind of nasty traitor could have tried to kill the heir of that magnificent Kingdom when they were younger and frail!

Some voices, especially amongst certain intellectual circles, started to theorize that the Hollow Knight was the first hero chosen to destroy the pestilential Infection, but at a certain point the King himself, due to his Higher goodness, decided to not let his heir sacrifice, sacrificing himself instead. What a noble hero he was!

But this theory was just a volatile idea that the majority of the population didn’t know, or just didn’t believe at.

 

Inside the White Palace, instead, the court started from the beginning to consider them a real Prince.

Just a few higher functionaries actually knew about their royal lineage - still without knowing about their Void nature or about their mysterious birth - but due to the fact that the Queen started to treat the Knight as an heir, they had quickly let the court know as well.

 

It was not easy to start that new life, especially after being raised with the certainty that their life would practically  _ end _ with the sealing of the Infection. Like the Dreamers in their slumber, the sealed Vessel would’ve been stuck in an half existence:  _ the Hollow Knight would have been totally undone. _

But now, they had to find a new task to attend, a new goal that would let their life regain a meaning.

It was not easy.

They weren’t able to accept, at first, the King’s sacrifice, and for some time their existence was immersed in a silent, devouring sadness and a sense of complete uselessness. But slowly the Pure Vessel changed their mind. Their father sacrificed himself for them, but the original purpose behind the sealing was to contain the Infection - the Vessel birth itself had this focus. 

So the Hollow Knight accepted that serving the magnificent Hallownest for the rest of their life would be their new purpose. Next to their mother, to fulfill the desire of the father and let the Kingdom live forever. 

 




 

But that day, no royal tasks asked for their service, no one needed their help, and there was not a single mission that the Hollow Knight had to attend. 

That day was the holy Anniversary. 

The whole Hallownest was celebrating it. The City of Tears was the place in which the official celebration took place, with the presence of the White Queen herself, the higher functionaries and the Royal Great Knights.

Nobody actually knew where the King sacrifice happened years ago, so the City was taken as a symbol, for the simple fact of being the Kingdom’s capital.

The Hollow Knight was waiting for the beginning of the celebrations, looking distractedly at the City through the window. The tower was high, and they could see many palaces, steeples and roofs from there, but they weren’t looking at all. Their eyes were stuck on the foggy figure of the King's Statue, in the middle of the most important square of the Capital. The celebration would start in front of it, as the previous years.

«My dear Hollow - called a voice - it will start soon.»

Their mother went closer, and stopped next to them.

«Are you ready?»

They nodded, silently, without turning their head.

She started to stare at the far away statue, too.

Some quiet minutes passed. The only sound was the tick of the raindrops that hit the glass.

Then, the Queen sighed, softly.

«There is not a single day I do not think about him. I… really miss him» her voice was gloomy and low.

Hollow remained silent, as the most of the time, but turned gently their head to the Queen.

«...but more the time passes, more I convince myself that he did the right choice.»

She turned at her offspring, looking them into their dark eyes for a long moment.

«I would probably be unable to bear the guilt of… of what we did, such a long time ago, if you were not with me, my dear child. I cannot imagine how I would feel, or what I could do without you here, alive.»

The Vessel felt their heart warming, and they trembled a bit for the emotion.

«...I… miss him… too.»

They said after a few seconds, turning again their head to the statue in the square.

«And I am glad - they continued, with their neutral and soft voice - for… for being here… too, mother. I… am glad for what he did for me.»

A bunch of seconds passed, quietly and slowly. Then, a servant entered the room, to say that the celebration was up to start. 

The Queen replied that they were coming, and then they both followed the servant.

The Hollow Knight tightened softly the little scroll hidden under their long, ceremonial cloak. The same letter that they used to read every year in the days of the Anniversary. The letter with his father last words for them, in which the King has called them “child” for the first and only time in their life. 

 

\---

 

_ “My loyal Hollow Knight, child of mine, _

 

_ I do not even know how to start, and a King should always know what to say.  _

_ Just saying that I am sorry for everything I have done, I have thought and I have planned is far too reductive. There are not enough words to apologize properly, and there is no way I can justify myself to you. _

 

_ When we decided to create you, the Kingdom was deeply in danger, and there was no much time left. We convinced ourselves that no other way was possible, and that the Kingdom had to live. _

_ I imposed myself to not consider any feeling, due to the urgency of the situation. I, firstly, thought that such a sacrifice would be necessary for the good of Hallownest.  _

_ But I was wrong.  _

_ A King should take care of his people, and what kind of King is the one that sacrifices them instead? _

 

_ Yes, I was wrong. Despite what I promised me to not feel, living with you at the Palace, following you during all these years and seeing you growing was the most beautiful thing I have ever felt. I lied to myself for too many years, hiding the idea that you could be more than a loyal, void knight.  _

_ But you are, my child.  _

_ I could not bear the shame of what I planned for you, and due to this I was so detached and cold all the time, but now I can clearly see how I always loved you, despite I wanted to hide my feelings from myself first. _

 

_ Forgive me, my child, for my blindness. For not stopping this terrible plan before. For not trying anything else, firmly convinced of my idea. _

_ I think I considered myself too essential for the Kingdom, and due to this I did not even consider that I could be the Vessel that could contain the curse of the Infection within my body. _

 

_ When you will read this letter, I will have already been sealed in your place. _

_ I feel that this is the right thing to do. Not only to avoid your sacrifice, but also to redeem myself for everything I have done.  _

_ So please, I beg you to not feel bad, or guilty in any way. I know that the task I raised you for was the only thing you lived for, but now, now I really want, and need, to offer you more.  _

_ I really want you to live, to be my heir, and to stay next to your mother, who always loved you. _

 

_ I know all these words could sound strange. The way I am talking to you is completely new. I do not even know for certain what I was for you.  _

_ Was I a father, or just a King? Or maybe, a monster? _

_ I will never know.  _

_ But as a King, I have one last request for you: I entrust to you our precious Hallownest. You are the strongest Knight of the realm, and now, you are also my heir. I ask you to guard the Kingdom, next to the Queen your mother, and protect it from any danger. _

_ Let Hallownest live forever, do not let the sacrifices I imposed you before be for nothing, and do not let mine be useless. _

_ As a father, the father that I should have been and I never was, I ask you to find your way, my child, and to follow it. I want you to be happy. I want you to live. I want you not to feel responsible in any way for what I decided to do now.  _

_ It is my last will. _

 

_ I sincerely want you to know how much I love you, and to apologize again to have never shown it before. _

_ I am sorry for everything, but I hope this our exchange will guarantee a new life for you. _

 

_ Sincerely, _

_ your father. _

 

\---

 




 

And very far away, inside the darkest, deepest room of an ancient Black Temple, the pale body of the King continued to stay still.

A mere Vessel, completely hollow. 

_ With no mind. No will. No voice. No dreams. No hopes. _

But with a beating, warm Heart in his pale chest.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Final comment:**

Some little strange bug slowly started to appear through Hallownest. Tiny, full of determination, and strangely mute. Nobody knew about their origins, or where they came from, or why they were so strange... but many people found them adorable, and they started to like having them around. Someone offered them jobs, houses, even families; some bugs became friends with them. Some of these little silent bugs left Hallownest, some stayed. And still nobody was able to understand who they were. Strange thing was that no information came from the Palace, but voices said that the Prince was secretly interested in those little ones, or at least, the guards they sent to control their safety were.

 

Maybe the King just forgot to seal the Abyss again, before turning hollow. Or maybe he left the door open on his own will.

We'll never know.

_ "At least, now they have a chance to live their life, too" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no words to express myself how much I enjoyed writing this short What If, and now that it ended, I feel a bit sad!  
> I would love to talk about a lot of things, like the Dreamers, Hornet or the other Vessels - as you saw, I added a little piece of information about them, at the end :3 - but I didn't want to overfill the story. I wanted to focus more on the Hollow Knight and the Pale King, and so this is what I tried to do. 
> 
> I have to thank you all the people that followed the story until the end, especially the people that left comments and kudos! You made my days, I really can't express how you made me happy in these weeks!!  
> And again, I must thank so much the two friends that helped me with fixing my English during the chapters, the story would be a lot uglier without their help ^^'
> 
> Now I must say goodbye to you, and I hope we will see again soon in another fanfiction! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think the King was more than a mere bastard or a cold monster incapable to understand how terrible the decisions he made were.  
> I think he was really desperate, and the Queen was too, to take such a decision.  
> Looking at the Path of Pain scene, I convinced myself that he actually started to attach to the Pure Vessel, and I like to think that the "No costs too great" idea is more something he has to tell himself - and his wife - to bear the plan they were making, more than an excuse to somebody. 
> 
> Of course, this is just a personal interpretation, and this is a What If, too xD


End file.
